Thursday, August 18, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: After revisiting his classic Alien with the upcoming 3D Fox film Prometheus, Ridley Scott is committing to direct and produce a film that advances his other seminal and groundbreaking science fiction film from the past. Scott has signed on to direct and produce a new installment of Blade Runner. He’ll make the film with Alcon Entertainment, producing with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. This would be the most high profile project for Alcon since The Blind Side. They got control of the franchise earlier this year, but it's a whole different ballgame with Scott at the helm.

I’m not getting a clear sense at this point whether Scott intends to do a sequel or a prequel to the 1982 film that was loosely based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Also unclear is whether they start fresh or reach out to Harrison Ford. The original took place in dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, in which organic superhuman robots called replicants escaped and are hiding somewhere on earth. Ford played Richard Deckard, a burnt out blade runner assigned to hunt them down. His tired life gets altered when he himself falls for one of the replicants and struggles to keep her from being destroyed.

The film was not a blockbuster when first released--it grossed $32 million in its original run--but the film has gained esteem over time. From the bleak but breathtaking visuals to the complex storyline and themes of mortality, Blade Runner became a classic. There has periodically been talks of doing a sequel but those never really went anywhere. After injecting state of the art 3D in reviving Alien, imagine what Scott can do with Blade Runner? Now, the filmmaker is ready to engage. Alcon has its output deal with Warner Bros, which remastered and released a 25th anniversary version on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2007. Warner Bros made the original film.

This is just the first step and the project will have to be written and it will likely evolve during that process. That's what happened on Alien, which began as a prequel to his 1979 classic. That changed when Lost's Damon Lindelof came in with a different take on the subject matter that imprinted on Scott and Fox executives. They wound up making Prometheus, which Fox considers an original but which I've heard is a cousin to the original Alien franchise. That film will be released June 8, 2012, with Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Patrick Wilson, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce starring. Scott is repped by WME.

Typecasting is death in Hollywood. If you keep doing the same kinds of roles over and over A) you’ll go insane and B) people will get sick of your shit. But the sad paradox of Hollywood is that once you’ve established yourself as one kind of actor, you’re basically stuck that way because that’s all people will send you scripts for, turning the whole thing into a spiral of bullshit.

It’s extremely difficult to break out of, and it’s ended numerous careers. (Some for the better.) Some actors get fed up with it, and then you get the roles where those actors try to break out of their type (often unsuccessfully) and as time goes by they end up looking like movies from some creepy alternate dimension or something.

But what’s also weird is going back through an actor’s early filmography and finding insane gems where they’re going totally against their later-established type. For some more famous examples, just look at Keanu Reeves in the Bill & Ted movies or Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Neither of those guys would even put their cigarette out on those scripts now, and that’s what makes seeing them in those roles hilarious.

So now, in a far from comprehensive list, we’re going to look at some of the weirdest roles that actors have done outside of their typical repertoire.

Bruce Willis in Death Becomes Her

You may already know that pre-Die HardBruce Willis was a comedic television actor on a series called Moonlighting. Post-Die Hard, he was Bruce Fuckin’ Willis, action star and all-around genuine American badass. Later, thanks to Pulp Fiction, he became Bruce Willis, well-rounded dramatic actor and still occasional action/comedy star. But tucked in-between the first two Die Hard movies was an earlier attempt to break out of his John McClane-induced Hell, a black comedy called Death Becomes Her.

Again, comedy roles were nothing new for Bruce, but what’s weird about this one is the fact that his character is a massive, massive dweeb. You want to reach through the screen and give his nebbish plastic surgeon character a wedgie the minute you see him. At least when he played a shrink in The Sixth Sense, you still got the feeling he could kick an ass or two if it came down to it.

Seth Rogen in Donnie Darko

When you think of Seth Rogen, you think of the doofish guy who sold you weed in college, because Seth Rogen probably really did sell you weed in college. (This is true even if you’ve never smoked weed or been to college in your life.) He’s the best buddy character in like, 90% of comedies released in the last five years. He even made The Green Hornet into a bromance, for God’s sake.

But before all of that, he played a fairly minor role as a total jerk-ass bully in Donnie Darko. It’s such a small part that it probably wouldn’t even stand out, except that he’s the guy who ends up uttering the (in)famous line “I like your boobs,” to a girl he’s taunting. Really, Seth? Now that is some smooth talking. Get you some, big fella.

Vince Vaughn in Psycho

Vince Vaughn is a man who wears many hats: Idiot man-child in Dodgeball, guy who used to slum around in Jon Favreau movies before Favreau started doing stuff like Iron Man, guy who got to schtup Jennifer Aniston in real life, guy who’s only done like five movies since he stopped schtupping Jennifer Aniston, and so on.

But in Gus Van Sant’s ill-advised Psycho remake, Vince Vaughn got to play none other than Norman Bates himself. And the weirdest part? He’s actually really good at it. Like, holy shit, that guy is terrifying. Just seeing how weird Vaughn is in the role is pretty much the only thing about that remake that makes it kinda worth watching. Unless you like seeing otherwise talented actors trying to channel forty-year-old performances, I mean.

Betty White in Lake Placid

Betty White has seen a kind of resurgence of late, thanks to weird, nostalgic people on the internet. Before social media campaigns turned her into an odd, charming old woman, she was… an odd, charming old woman. Okay, obviously nothing’s changed. Betty White‘s pretty much always played the kooky elderly woman role, something she seems to do in real life as well. When we watch Betty White, it’s like she’s not even playing a role. That’s just her on screen, being herself.

She’s kinda like your grandma, except famous and she didn’t lock you in cupboards when you misbehaved as a kid. That’s why it’s kinda odd to see her in a movie like Lake Placid, playing a woman who claims to have murdered her husband, feeds and cares for a gigantic crocodile, calls people things like “fuck-meat”, and tells a police officer to suck her dick. That’s more like the grandma most of us know. (It’s just a joke, grandma. Don’t lock me in the cupboard.)

Michael Madsen in Free Willy

Approximately 99% of people only remember the following about Free Willy: Michael Jackson. Whale. Cover art. That’s it. That’s why it may very well blow your mind to discover that Michael Madsen is totally the kid’s dad in that movie (and then it will be further blown when I tell you that that kid is now 31 years old). And he’s not an ex-cop dad who beats his kids, or a crazy dad who sits around with a shotgun. No, he’s totally a supporting, loving foster dad. This is the same Michael Madsen who played an ear-cutting jewel thief in Reservoir Dogs and Bill’s loser brother Budd in Kill Bill.

Sadly, the only decent footage on YouTube is a 3 second scene where he punches the bad guy (played by Michael Ironside) toward the end of the film. Just watch it and pretend that it cuts away before he ties the guy up and drops a car battery on his junk for an hour.

Ronald Reagan in The Killers

Good old Uncle Ronnie’s become a bit of a legend these days. The current crop of American conservatives love to reference him and his policies to win points with the Baby Boomer generation. Naturally, no one’s forgotten that President Reagan was once a popular film star, although most folks will probably tell you that he spent a lot of time doing Westerns and kissing monkeys, nothing real crazy.

However, in 1964′s The Killers, Ronald Reagan did something he had never done before or since: he totally played a bad guy. (Keep it down, grouchy, politically-minded people. We’re all just here to talk movies.) And not just any bad guy, either– he played a ruthless, bad ass mob boss, the kind of guy who was apparently okay with giving a dame what-for when she got too mouthy or whatever. Poor examples of gender relations aside, Reagan actually did a fairly impressive job. If that whole “politics” thing hadn’t worked out for him, he could have been Robert DeNiro before there even was a Robert DeNiro.

Sir Alec Guinness in Murder by Death

Sir Alec Guinness (The “sir” is mandatory) is known for a single role more so than anyone else on this list: Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. A father figure to millions of lonesome, sweaty nerds, Obi-Wan is the embodiment of calm, peaceful wisdom. He is Luke Skywalker’s and, by proxy the audience’s, first real glimpse at the vast universe of the Star Wars saga.

But what a lot of people outside of England don’t realize is that Sir Alec was an accomplished actor for many decades before being cast as Obi-Wan. And, in perhaps one of his oddest roles, he played a blind butler in Murder by Death, a slapstick comedy written by Neil Simon. Most of his laughs in the film come from his interactions with the deaf-mute maid, as seen in the clip above. It’s kind of disconcerting to see him unable to use Force Sight to find his way around.

Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network have announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 4 will premiere on Friday, September 16th at 8:00pm. The new season, referred to be the title "Battle Lines", will debut with a one-hour premiere, comprised of two episodes: "Water War" and "Gungan Attack," which are the first two parts of a three-part aquatic-themed story arc, which includes The Clone Wars debut of Captain Ackbar – before the Mon Calamari leader becomes the trap-phobic Admiral we know from Return of the Jedi.

A new trailer for The Clone Wars has been released as well, hinting at some very epic events in the new season, including glimpses of Ahsoka vs. Death Watch and Asajj Ventress taking on General Grievous - along with more of a focus on Anakin Skywalker taking some turns that, well… We just don't think will end well. Check it out below!

DAVE McGINN

A transvestite who’s married to a pornographer may be an odd inspiration for one of the summer’s biggest kids movies, but you just have to scratch the surface a little bit more to find out what’s right under your nose.

Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids films have always been “a scrappily innovative series,” says the director. The premise alone made the first film a hit. The second was the first time Rodriguez gave up film to shoot in digital. The third helped to usher in the current bonanza of 3D movies. So when it came time for the next instalment, Rodriguez knew he had to kick it up a notch.

“When it came time to do Spy Kids 4, I thought, we can’t just go do 3D again. We have to keep with the [innovative nature of] the series. Like Nigel Tufnel would say in Spinal Tap, ‘One louder! We have to do one more thing and go to 11!”

And that’s when the pornographer and the transvestite entered the picture. Well, more like they wafted into Rodriguez’s mind. Thinking of ways to maintain the series’ tradition of innovation, Rodriguez says he remembered the 1981 John Waters film Polyester, about a transvestite who is married to a pornographer, yes, but more importantly a film in which the audience was able to experience various smells from the movie – including roses, flatulence, skunk, gasoline and dirty shoes – thanks to scratch ’n’ sniff cards.

Waters called the technology that accompanied his movie Odorama. Rodriguez has dubbed his Aroma-Scope.

“The idea itself was really fun and easy to do. I wanted to do something in 4D where again the audience got something for free … and it would just be an added value to the movie and an added experience,” Rodriguez says.

While Aroma-Scope is being put front and centre in the film’s marketing, even Rodriguez says it’s not something that’s likely to become a trend at the movies. Judging by the long history of failed attempts to make smells an added dimension at the movies, there’s a very good chance he’s correct. But there’s no doubt that olfactory gimmicks such as this one fit well within children’s movies, and with films reaching the limit of what’s visually possible, some believe there’s a chance smell-o-vision could become film’s next frontier – if only we could get the technology right.

“It’s a fun one-off. We’re not going to convert all of our movies and all of our cinema experience to having a smelling component any time soon,” says John Fithian, president of the U.S.-based National Association of Theatre Owners.

Rodriguez himself doesn’t expect smells to be swirling through many movies. “I think this is very particular,” he says.

But plenty of films have tried, and failed, to give a pungent push to that other dimension.

“This idea has been around since practically the inception of movies,” says Patrick Kiger, co-author of Oops: 20 Life Lessons from the Fiascoes that Shaped America. In 1906, for instance, a theatre in Pennsylvania dipped cotton wool in rose oil and put it in front of an electric fan during a newsreel about the Rose Bowl.

Waters’s film was a sly parody of Scent of Mystery, a film that introduced an invention billed as “Glorious Smell-O-Vision” in 1960. “First they moved (1895)! Then they talked (1927). Now they smell!” proclaimed ads for the movie. Various smells were pumped into the theatre during the movie: freshly baked bread, a salty ocean breeze, pipe tobacco.

Problem was, the movie wasn’t all that good, and the odours often reached viewers well after the action on screen, and was accompanied by a hissing sound.

“It’s an old idea, but it’s been difficult to find a way to do it effectively over the years,” Kiger says.

Other movies have tried, however. In 2003, the makers of Rugrats Go Wild claimed the scratch ’n’ sniff cards viewers inhaled during the movie were an homage to Waters. In 2005, Japanese theatres presented the Colin Farrell flick The New World with smell. The scents were emitted from under the audience’s seats, with a floral smell accompanying love scenes and a mixture of rosemary and peppermint hitting one’s nose during the film’s tear-jerker moments.

Aroma-Scope will see audiences given a card that has eight smells. When a number flashes on screen, you rub the corresponding number on the card and take a whiff, explains Rodriguez. “There’s some really great smells, really rich smells. And then there’s some surprising smells,” he says. “We have a spy baby and a spy dog, so you can imagine that the smells get pretty out there.”

While it’s not likely to be part of more mature movies any time soon, it’s ideal for children, especially a generation that has grown up expecting interactivity.

“This kind of helps bridge that gap I think between watching a movie and being part of it,” Rodriguez says. “Kids identify so much with these kids on screen. Anything that makes them feel more like a part of the action, more like they’re doing the same thing as the kids on screen, it really helps create that bond even stronger.”

With film pushing the limits of what’s visually possible, scent may be the next frontier, Kiger says.

“We’ve reached the point I think where there’s so much overkill with visual imagery that it’s impossible to wow people any more,” he says. “Once people reach a threshold where you can’t do anything more visual that’s going to amaze them, maybe you’re going to need all these other things.”

Rodriguez jokes that he could do a Machete movie in Aroma-Scope. And though for the moment it’s simply a neat way of making a kid’s movie a little more enjoyable, he doesn’t rule out the possibility filmmakers may be going after our noses down the road.